The Washington Nationals on Sunday activated Gerardo Parra. He'll serve as a fourth outfielder behind starters Juan Soto, Victor Robles and Kyle Schwarber (we'll get to Schwarber in a second). Normally, this sort of activation wouldn't really move the needle, but there are special circumstances.
First off, the Nationals are hot right now. They've won seven of their last eight games after Sunday's 5-2 win over the Mets. They are looking for a little 2019 magic.
On June 20 that season, they were two games under .500 and weren't in playoff position then, either. Parra had been added to the Nationals after a trade that season in the second week of May. The Nationals would go 50-39 in games in which he appeared in the regular season, but it was much more than that. He brought a vibe and it became the Nationals' calling card in 2019.
Presenting the Baby Shark:
The Nats would ride that wave all the way to a World Series championship. They appear to be attempting to recreate the run, albeit with a pretty different roster. Parra pinch hit in the seventh inning Sunday, much to the delight of the 30,000-plus in attendance.
He would then double and the entire ballpark was rocking like it was 2019.
Parra would then score on a Schwarber home run.
That was Schwarber's third home run of the game and his fifth in two days. He's on some kind of tear right now. He hit two homers Saturday and now has gone 13 for 36 (.361) with nine homers and 16 RBI in his last 10 games. The nine homers is the most by a player in a 10-game span in franchise history.
The Nats are still under .500 at 33-36, but they now only trail the Mets by five games in the NL East. That's workable with more than three months remaining in the season.
There are certainly some good vibes, as they are winning games, Schwarber is swinging an insanely hot power bat and the Baby Shark is back.